Butter Chicken Meal Kit - Aldi

Butter Chicken Meal Kit - Aldi

For years I've been looking for a dupe for this discontinued Archer Farms meal kit. It was so freaking good! According to what I've read online, the general public complained that it was too spicy, so it was discontinued and replaced with a lame mild version that doesn't taste as good. BOO!

When I saw that Aldi had a few Journey to India meal kits a while back, I scooped them up, hoping that one of them would be worthy of taking the Archer Farms meal kit's place.

The meal kit I loved was Vindaloo, and spicy, and this is Butter Chicken, which is more mild. Now this flavor won't be exactly what I'm looking for, but it's more palate friendly for my spice-intolerant family, so I decided to cook this one up first so we could all eat dinner together.

Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil Couscous - Target: Cherry Hill, NJ

Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil Couscous - Target: Cherry Hill, NJ

This has been in my cabinet for a while, so I'm not sure if Target still carries this, but I still wanted to post a quickie review. (First world food hoarder problems.) So my boyfriend and I cooked it up and ate it along with some homemade buffalo chicken spring rolls and garlic bread. (It was a very odds and ends kind of night.)

Impulsive Buy Spotted on the Shelves Entries - 10 (Target & Walmart)

Two more limited edition Peep flavors! Reviews will be up next week. (Target)

I am obsessed with this foodie site called The Impulsive Buy, and my favorite posts are called "Spotted on the Shelves." It is a viewer-fueled inventory of new items that have been released in various stores. I've already made several submissions, found HERE, so here is round 9!

Target's Vindaloo Archer Farms Meal Kit is being Discontinued

Target's Vindaloo Archer Farms Meal Kit is being Discontinued!

Finding food in the clearance section is a mixed blessing. On one hand it's cheap, so you save money, on the other, it might be discontinued. So if you really enjoy it, you might never find it again.

On that note, the meal kit that I just reviewed is on it's way out. It was the last box at my local target and the rest of the Targets in my area have already stopped carrying it. (I think all of the Indian inspired flavors are being phased out actually, but I'm 100% not sure.) I really enjoyed this meal kit so I'm pretty disappointed.

I had no idea it was going to be so delicious!  I wish I could have stocked up, but I missed my opportunity.

If you like spicy Indian inspired flavors, check your Target's clearance section for this cheap and delicious meal. (Or send it to me if you want to be awesome.) It's a pity this stuff won't be around anymore.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Vindaloo Archer Farms Meal Kit - Target: Cherry Hill, NJ

Vindaloo Archer Farms Meal Kit - Target: Cherry Hill, NJ

Some of you might remember this kit from my Target Mini-haul video. I picked it up about a month ago when I saw it in the clearance section. The box was dented, so I'm not too sure if it was discounted because of the damage, or because it's being discontinued. (It was the only box in the store so I had nothing to compare it to.) I was really interested in this kit because it looks similar to go go-to order from IndeBlue, so if this turns out to be really tasty and it's discontinued, that'll be a real shame.

Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal - Target - Riverside, NJ

Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal  - Target - Riverside, NJ

I am almost through with student teaching! With all my classes, papers, and lesson plans, it’s been hard to keep up with my daily posts. Don’t worry, this won’t be an issue for much longer. My teaching position ends in early December. It’ll be great to get a job and earn money again (FYI: my program doesn’t allow you to work during student teaching, so you have no income), but I am going to miss my students so much. They are all awesome people and I’ll most likely cry my eyes out when I have to say goodbye. Enough sappy stuff, let the pumpkin-ing continue!

Target released a ton of pumpkin themed items this year and, although the majority turned out to be disappointing, there were a few shining stars. (Like these cookies. Ditch the filling! The pumpkin spiced ginger-snap-like cookies were amazing on their own.)  It’s oatmeal weather here in Jersey, so it’s the perfect time to give this item a try.
Looking at the box…. Wait a minute! Does this package finally deviate from the Archer
Farms formula? Do any of you notice the change?

I’ll give you a minute to try and figure it out

Archer Farms Candy Corn Coffee - Target - Cherry Hill, NJ

Archer Farms Candy Corn Coffee - Target - Cherry Hill, NJ

Sorry my posts have been a little wonky the last few days, my queue finally ran out and that video post took me forever to edit and upload. Plus, student teaching has been exhausting.


Target has released some really awesome Halloween collections in the past. This year, the fall themed goodies include: pumpkin spiced cookies, caramel apple coffee, gummy bats, spiced cereal bars, and fancy coffees. I saw this candy corn coffee in a Spotted post over on the Impulsive Buy and really wanted to give it a try. (Especially since my boyfriend loves Candy Corn and coffee. I hoped this would be the best of both worlds.)

The packaging is a standard, foiled, coffee bag with a resealable fold down top. Honestly, I am kind of surprised by the plain packaging. I mean, you could very easily walk right past this and never notice that it was a limited, seasonal, flavor. Other than the Archer Farms label, there aren't any design elements. I kind of wish the bag was covered in little candy corns, or had an overall candy corn color scheme, but it doesn't. Then again, Archer Farms is a slightly frilly no-frills brand, so keeping it simple does make sense as far as keeping costs down.

Once opened, I feared that Archer Farms pulled another fast one on me. This smells like normal coffee with a hint of vanilla. I couldn't detect any hint of candy corn or honey. Bah, I should have known better. This brand has burned me before with their fancy kettle chips, Archer Farms products are good, but they rarely live up to the tantalizing flavor name. Maybe it'll be more authentic when it's brewed?

Sadly it wasn't. The brewed coffee has a mildly sweet vanilla taste, which is pleasant, but there is no way you'd ever mistake this for candy corn.

I love the idea, but this product does not deliver.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

Like me on facebook to keep up with all my adventures!

Archer Farms, Honey Dijon Potato Chips - Target: Cherry Hill, NJ

Archer Farms, Honey Dijon Potato Chips - Target: Cherry Hill, NJ

I've had Archer Farms products before, and while they have all been tasty, they don't live up to their fancy flavor names. (Remember the Spicy Korean Style BBQ chips I reviewed?)

I am calling it right now. I think I'm going to like these chips, but they are not going to taste like Dijon mustard. (Maybe the flavoring will be more like a generic honey-mustard.)

Like always, the Archer Farms label remains consistent. We have the same white diamond pattern against a forest green background with a zip-lock top and an image relating to the flavor. It perfectly blends in with the rest of the line, yet this bag is different enough to stand out from the other flavors. (Mainly due to the artisanal photographs and the brightly colored bands that relate to each flavor.) I like the packaging and I really wish other chip brand would get on the zip-lock bandwagon. No more stale chips or bag clips!

The bag opens really easily, and the contents smell like traditional kettle chips tossed with a very light, tangy, vinegary, honey mustard. Overall, the chip scent really overpowers the mustard aroma.

Visually, the chips are a bit more yellow than their plain counterpart, and you can see little flecks of powdered flavoring.

Wow. These chips are really mildly flavored. I'm pretty underwhelmed. These taste even weaker than I thought they would. The flavoring is very similar to Snyder's Honey Mustard and Onion Pretzel Pieces, but it's barely there. It's as if you poured some Snyders pieces into the chip bag, shook it up, and let it sit together overnight.  Like always, some chips get a little more flavoring than others, and those chips perfectly match the Snyders flavoring, but they are few and far between.

My honey mustard loving boyfriend really liked these, but he isn't a big potato chip fan. I really love the texture of these kettle chips and the more flavorful chips are really yummy, but you get a lot of barely flavored dud-chips in this bag.

Archer Farms is a great brand, but their flavor naming department and their flavoring departments need to get on the same page. You have these exotic and wonderfully delicious names, but generically flavored products. That isn't a bad thing, the chips are yummy, but if these were properly named I wouldn't be so disappointed.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

Like me on facebook to keep up with all my adventures!

Impulsive Buy Spotted on the Shelves Entries - 3

My boyfriend and I actually bought these and they were deliciously tangy. Maybe the best specialty Peeps ever!

There is a really awesome foodie site called The Impulsive Buy (Go check it out!)

One of my favorite posts on the site is called "Spotted on the Shelves." It is a viewer-fueled inventory of new items that have been released in various stores. I already made two posts of my submissions, found HERE, so here is round 3! 

Here's what I found at Target...

Impulsive Buy Spotted on the Shelves Entries - 2 (Pumpkin Edition)

Spooky, scary, Lunchables?

There is a really awesome foodie site called The Impulsive Buy (Go check it out!)

One of my favorite posts on the site is called "Spotted on the Shelves." It is a viewer-fueled inventory of new items that have been released in various stores. I already made one post of my submissions, found HERE, so here is a fall-themed round 2! 

With October swiftly approaching, it is almost time for my plethora of pumpkin themed posts, so I was out looking for some new fall items to enjoy.

Here's what I found at Target...

Archer Farms Spicy Korean BBQ Chips - Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

Archer Farms Spicy Korean BBQ Chips - Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

This might be a bit of a stretch, but BBQs are a summer thing, right? 
After the sriracha chips were defeated in the Lay’s Choose Your Flavor campaign I have been looking for a replacement.

The sriracha chips released by Lay’s admittedly did NOT taste like sriracha, but they reminded me of the honey hot wings I order from a local pizza place. I absolutely loved them and I was really sad to see them go. (For the record Cheesy Garlic Bread won the contest, although I haven’t seen them available anywhere yet.)

There isn’t much design to critique, because this bag follows the basic Archer Farms formula. Dark green top with some diamond crosshatching, a nice photo of the product, and crisp white text. I like the look, it’s consistent, and it serves it’s purpose. For a no frills brand, Archer Farms is pretty frilly. It has a zip-loc style resealable top! Other brands really need to start doing this. (It’s very handy.)

Archer Farms Pumpkin Spice Cereal - Pumpkin 2012 Haul

Archer Farms Pumpkin Spice Cereal- Target : Cherry Hill, NJ

I  am collecting all of my pumpkin posts from last year and re-posting them here on Blogger to make a comprehensive collection. Here is the original Tumblr post. 

I was really excited for this one! I had never seen a pumpkin spiced cereal before, and I think it would be a brilliant idea. Can you imagine Cinnamon Toast Crunch with added pumpkin spice? I think it would be delicious!

Archer Farms is a brand you can buy at Target, they have a pretty good range of granola cereals with unique flavors. This year they released a pumpkin spice variety and I had to pick it up.